Chelidoperca tosaensis, a new species of perchlet (Serranidae) from Japan and the Philippines, with geographic range extension of C. stella to the northwestern Pacific Ocean

Abstract

Chelidoperca tosaensis is described as a new species based on 84 specimens from Japan and the Philippines taken from depths of 60–302 m. The species can be distinguished from all known congeners by having the following combination of characters: scale rows between lateral line and base of spinous dorsal fin 3; pored lateral-line scales 37–42 (modally 39); scale rows in longitudinal series 39–43 (modally 40); no longitudinal dark stripe or row of dark blotches on body side. The new species is additionally characterized by having a combination of numerous, scattered, yellow spots on dorsal and anal fins with red streak or cluster of reddish spots over bases of about 4–6th dorsal-fin spines; large ocellated red spot with pinkish white border present on membrane between opercular spines; pelvic fin with middle area yellow with whitish spine, and whitish first, second and fifth soft rays; caudal fin with about three transverse rows of yellow spots centrally and posteriorly, two fan-shaped rows of red blotches on basal third, and a pair of white blotches with a pair of yellow blotches between white blotches on the base. Diagnostic characters of Chelidoperca stella, previously known only from its type locality in the Andaman Sea, are updated based on 12 specimens from Taiwan, the Gulf of Tonkin, Vietnam and the Philippines. These specimens represent the first records of the species from the Pacific Ocean.

Notes

Acknowledgments

We are especially grateful to S.-P. Huang (ASIZP), Y. Kai, F. Tashiro and N. Nakayama (FAKU), A. Yamaguchi and N. Yagishita (FFNU), H. Motomura (KAUM), P. Pruvost, R. Causse, Z. Gabsi, C. Ferrara and P. Béarez (MNHN), S. Tomiyama (MSM), M. Takami and T. Tamai (Tokai University, Shizuoka), H.-C. Ho (NMMB), K. Matsuura, G. Shinohara, M. Nakae and K. Kuriiwa (NSMT), K. Hatooka (formerly OMNH), K. Shibukawa (SPMN) and Y. Kaji (WMNH) for their kind hospitality during the first author’s visit to their institution; K. Hoshino (Oita Marine Palace Aquarium Umitamago, Oita), C. Aungtonya (PMBC) and U. Satapoomin (formerly PMBC), K. Hoshino (SNFR) and T. Yoshino (formerly URM) also provided opportunities to examine specimens. We especially thank M.-Y. Lee (NTU) and R. de Ruiter (RMNH) for providing data on and photographs of the holotype of C. margaritifera; H. Motomura (KAUM), S. Mizuno, T. Suzuki and K. Tsuchiya (Izu Mito Sea Paradise, Numazu), M. Nakae (NSMT) and K. Shibukawa (formerly NSMT), and M. Okamoto (formerly SNFR) and Y. Kaji (WMNH) for providing specimens and photographs of Chelidoperca; Y. Kaji (WMNH) for also providing photographs of the new species; U. Alama (UPVMI) for registration of paratype of C. tosaensis; H. Motomura and Y. Fukui (KAUM) for their help during the first author’s research in Paris; Y. Miyazaki (Shiraume Gakuen College, Kodaira) for help with references on WEB source; students and volunteers of BSKU and KAUM for curatorial assistance and sampling of specimens; and C. Baldwin (USNM) and anonymous reviewers for providing constructive comments on this study. This study was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid from JSPS Research Fellow (PD: 16J00047). The specimen collected by the third author in the Philippines was part of an ongoing (2011 to the present) multi-partnered Memorandum of Agreement between the Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources-National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (BFAR-NFRDI), Department of Agriculture, Philippines, and the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution-Department of Vertebrate Zoology (USNM), USA (Title: Collaboration on the Inventory and DNA Barcoding of Commercial Fishes of the Philippines for Food Safety and Biodiversity), designed to obtain specimen-vouchered tissue samples of the commercial fishes found in the Philippines. We thank Jon Deeds (United States Food and Drug Administration) for supporting this food safety project. We are particularly grateful to M. D. Santos of BFAR-NFRDI and K. E. Carpenter of Old Dominion University for their collaboration and support in all aspects of the project. We thank C. Baldwin and G. D. Johnson (USNM) for their ongoing support of the third author during the project. D. Pitassy, E. Wilbur, S. Smith, K. Murphy and S. Raredon of the Division of Fishes (USNM) assisted with preparations for the trip and processing specimens. D. Dumale (the Philippine National Museum) assisted in curation and field collections and provided access to the facilities at the Philippine National Museum for packing and storage of specimens. L. Weigt, A. Driskell, K. Macdonald and J. Hunt of the Laboratories of Analytical Biology (Smithsonian Institution) provided support for and assistance with logistics and molecular analysis of samples throughout the project. A. M. Lizano, A. Macaspac, T. Potenciana, M. Mendiola, P. Jessele, J. Dicdiquin and N. A. Flores worked tirelessly and diligently as administrative and field assistants. D. Carpenter, N. Minsalan V and N. Minsalan VI provided collection support on Panay and Negros.

Supplementary material

References

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